From the monthly archives:

May 2006

One of the things I love about the Psalms is that David and the other writers speak freely; when troubled, they say so. Discouraged? They state what’s bothering them, and sometimes they even sound like they are complaining. Psalm 3 is a good example; David writes,

O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.“
Selah

What keeps David from being a whiner? He always–always–turns it around. He pauses for a moment after these two verses (the selah), and then he offers a new thought, a fresh perspective on his situation:

But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.

Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Selah

Look at the confidence with which David asserts God’s care:

  • You are a shield
  • You bestow glory
  • He answers me
  • I wake because the LORD sustains me
  • I will not fear
  • from the LORD comes deliverance

David doesn’t say, as I often heard growing up in church, “bless him, Lord, if it’s your will.” David says, “I’ve got a problem–a BIG problem! But God is faithful and He will deliver me!” David has an incredible, absolute confidence in God’s care, and he speaks it out loud.

I confess that often it’s easier for me to admire David for his confidence than to show such confidence myself. That’s why I find it helpful to pray the Psalms and put David’s words in my mouth. Though I might not have David’s confidence in my heart the first time I declare “I cry aloud and the Lord answers me from His holy hill,” I gain it as I speak it again and again. And I say it out loud so I can hear myself speaking confidently. I’ve been told that we believe what we hear ourselves say more than we believe the words spoken by others. If that is true (and it seems reasonable to me), then all the more reason to join with David and say it out loud. Put it on paper and make your words–and your confidence–visible. What helps you to speak with confidence?

In "No One Likes Me!" Laura Bagby writes:

Here is what I am learning. These words that we hear in our heads have to be weighed by God’s Word. We are not obligated to accept every thought as truth. We must distinguish between the garbage and the gems.

As it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (NIV).

We don’t just blindly accept whatever fleeting notion enters our heads. We actively wage war by binding and gagging incorrect thoughts. We give those ideas no room to move around in our brains. We give them no authority to effect our subsequent emotions and actions.

Darrell’s Healing

May 10, 2006

This from a blogby a faithful believer looking to God for healing:

Today we finally went to the oncologist for Darrell’s first appointment. The doctor said based on the pathology report and the PET Scans, he finds NO CANCER in Darrell’s body! Isn’t God faithful?

In another post, he lists the Scriptures he has been praying–very encouraging!

Read the full article →

some thoughts on being righteous

May 10, 2006

I was rather embarrassed the other day when I realized that it had been quite some time since I had simply read the Bible instead of a book about the Bible. So, I’m going to read the Psalms for a while.

Psalm 1 has a wonderful promise for the righteous man or woman:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. (v. 3)…

Read the full article →

I’m still alive

May 10, 2006

My classes ended on April 26, and since then I’ve been in a whirlwind of grading with essays, final exams, and projects to deal with. I turned in my grades on Monday, and now my schedule will get back to a more normal pace.

Read the full article →
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